Category Archives: Journal

I’ve always been bit of a tubby bloke (affectionately known as ‘Pud’ since my first year of high school) even though I’ve always been reasonably active going to the gym or playing sports.

Over the years my weight has fluctuated rather dramatically as a result of lifestyle (too much work or study, partying etc.) typically between 120kg and 90kg – with it being round 104kg at the beginning of 2010.

Early on in 2010 I made a decision to get into shape – with an initial goal of being able to run/walk without any pain in my left knee/leg (I’d busted it some 4 years ago whilst moving house & have been using it as an excuse to not do much since). I figured weight loss etc. was secondary to being able to get back outside walking/running.

In the beginning…

I figured swimming would be a nice way to ease myself back into it and not cause too many issues with my knee. Around February I started going to the local pool most days to knock out (usually) around 20 laps of the 50m pool (16 freestyle and 4 breast-stroke – just to break it up a little).

After roughly 2 months my carido fitness had improved slightly (nothing fantastic) and I’d lost around 3 kgs but my knee (not surprisingly) was still giving me grief. I’d also somehow managed to develop some rather sore shoulders, neck and back – but I think sitting in an office desk most of time for the past 4-5 years was the primary cause of this.

At around this time my fiance Clare was running rings around me – having finished up with some Personal Training (PT) sessions and a bootcamp. She was in great shape with the exception of some back pain she was seeing a physio about.

After a lot of encouragement and support from Clare (I can be quite stubborn) I finally decided to see her physio about my knee and also take up PT (every Tuesday morning at 6am – ouch).

My first session with the physio was rather promising – there was no signs left of any damage caused by the injury on my knee with the exception of the sporadic pain which was caused largely by a lack of use. Basically I’d been favoring my right leg resulting in a significantly weaker left leg/knee (I’d never noticed but the physio actually pointed out my legs even looked different).

All I really needed to do was a lot of stretching and strength exercises on a daily basis to get it back in shape.

My first few PT sessions in contrast weren’t that promising – to be honest I struggled. Dizzy spells, pounding head aches – I had it all. At the end of the first few sessions I was so buggered I couldn’t even drive home.

But you know what – I actually enjoyed the challenge.

After some prodding by our trainer and lots of determination, session by session, little by little the dizzy spells and head aches weren’t so regular and I could get on with the business of getting fit.

By the end of our first 12 weeks of PT I’d regained a lot of mobility in my left knee/leg (I was running up/down stairs and I even managed a 3km run rather easily my first time on the tread mill). I’d also gone from 101.3 kgs down to around 94kgs.

Adjusting the Routine…

At this point I was doing 1 PT session a week and doing my own workouts most other days – with a focus on cardio. Weight loss began to be my primary goal however, getting down to the 90kg mark was proving to be more difficult – no matter how much running, riding or rowing I was doing.

After some discussion with another trainer I decided to integrate more weights training into my routine – in addition to my existing cardio focused session.

This worked wonders – after posting some pretty small weekly weight loss numbers – I had my single biggest loss since beginning training after a single weights session.

From this point on I have been doing 2 PT sessions a week (1 more cardio focused and the other more weights focused) with some of my own training on the off days.

The diet…

My diet didn’t really changed a whole lot until recently as Clare and I typically eat quite well. We still ate out and enjoyed good food.

The biggest change initially was simply reducing portion sizes and keeping track of how much alcohol I was drinking – I do love a good red.

Recently I’ve opted for a more protein and veg/salad heavy diet and have reduced the amount of carbs (bread mainly) which seems to be working quite well.

I’ve also started having a low fat/carb protein shake after PT sessions to help with building muscle and recovery.

End of Year Results

After roughly 10 months of PT, several weeks of physio and a lot of hard work I’m weighing in at around 87kg (I was 86.1kg just prior to Christmas but enjoyed the Christmas ham a little too much ) which is the lightest I can recall weighing ever.

I am also the fittest I have ever been without a doubt and the last time I checked (back in October) I’d lost 16cm off my waistline and 9cm from around my hips.

Will I keep it up?

I bloody hope so… I’ve learnt a lot of things about myself this year & one of them is that I need to exercise – no excuses, if’s or but’s.

I’m sure my weight will fluctuate (it happens) but if I ever go back above 90kg I’m going to be very, very, very disappointed with myself and you have permission to give me a good slap on the back of my head.

Some Takeaways

• Incorporate weights into your training routine.
• Go to failure.
• A good quality protein shake before/after a hard session will do wonders for your recovery.
• Seek help – get a good trainer/s – it’s been the best money I have spent all year.
• Make exercise top priority in your daily routine.
• It’d great for stress – You won’t can’t think about life’s other stresses (work) when you’re focused on making that next tough set or rep especially when you are close to failure.